The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I)
"The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I)" is the 38th episode of The Venture Bros. and is part of the multi-episode season finale. Although ostensibly the first half of a two-part story, the episode continues directly from the end of ORB, and the show's writers acknowledged that the finale could be considered a three-parter. When the episode debuted on the Adult Swim website on August 15, 2008, it included a brief prologue involving the Monarch which was not in the broadcast version. It was intended to be included on the DVD, but the scene was accidentally omitted. Jackson Publick has stated that he's trying to find a way to make the scene available for free online. Plot The murderous Moppets have abducted Dean and Hank, while The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. The Monarch stand by. Brock Samson attacks The Monarch, who decapitates Brock with his wings; while Henchman 21 mutinies and is embraced by Dr. Girlfriend. This is then revealed to be no more than a holodeck-type simulation to prepare for an attack on the Venture Compound. This scene was not included in the broadcast version of the episode. In the Venture Compound, Brock instructs the Venture family to leave him and go to Spider Skull Island, to protect them from O.S.I. agents that want Brock dead. As they prepare to leave, Molotov Cocktease and her all-female hit squad, The Blackhearts, appear. Molotov describes the three assassins O.S.I. hired to kill Brock. One is Heinrich "Herr Trigger" Triggermensch, an East German bi-athlete who gets sexual pleasure from finishing off his victims. The second is Russell "Go Fish" Sturgeon, a specialist in maritime assassinations. The third is Jean-Claude Le Tueur, a big-game hunter who enjoys Silver-Age comics and exotic weapons. At a strip club, Hunter Gathers confirms that O.S.I. is trying to kill Brock and provides him with a list of ex-O.S.I. contacts and keys to his car. As Brock leaves the strip club, he's attacked by Herr Trigger. Brock convinces Dr. Venture and Dean to depart on the X-1, but Hank stows away in the car provided by Hunter. A high-speed chase and vehicular battle ensue, which ends when the Ventures' emergency ejection seats land on and kill Herr Trigger. The Monarch, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, #21, #24, and the two moppets are searching the Venture compound but find it empty except for a distraught Sergeant Hatred in the bathroom. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch attempts to console him; Hatred believes his wife is going to leave him. Brock visits two former O.S.I. agents named Shore Leave and Mile High, who have started a Scuba-based Bible Camp and changed their codenames to "Holy Diver" and "Sky Pilot". While Brock asks them for help, he is attacked by Go Fish who entangles Brock in fishing line and drags Brock behind his motorboat. As Holy Diver and Sky Pilot gear up to help (in a reference to The Centurians), Go Fish throws chum onto Brock to attract sharks. Brock subdues a shark and then leaves his shirt and hair attached to the dead shark as a decoy. Using fishing line and two buoys, Brock rigs the shark so that it decapitates Go Fish. Brock escorts everyone to a hotel room in Los Angeles. After Brock leaves to collect supplies, Hank strikes up a conversation with a man who turns out to be Le Tueur. Brock reappears and they begin to battle. Le Tueur is almost victorious, but Brock eventually slices him in half with his own discarded sword. Brock tells Hank to look through the list of contacts and call "The Cleaner" to dispose of Le Tueur's corpse. Moments later, two officers from the L.A.P.D. burst through the door and hold everyone at gunpoint. Meanwhile, at the X-1, The Cocoon hovers overhead as H.E.L.P.eR. whistles in apprehension. Cultural references * Herr Trigger's appearance and mannerisms are based on those of German actor Klaus Kinski, while his dress and style (as stated in his dossier) are a reference to German Industrial bands such as Rammstein. *Le Tueur's costume and backstory are strongly based on those of Kraven the Hunter of Marvel Comics, with the main difference being that Le Tueur is French while Kraven was Russian. (Le Tueur is French for "The Killer".) *The costume and appearance of "The Cleaner" character is nearly identical to that of "Mr. Clean" (or "Flash" in the UK), the advertising mascot for a line of cleansers produced by the Procter & Gamble company, while the name and concept of a professional who is sent to "clean up" botched crime scenes comes from the Victor character portrayed by Jean Reno in Nikita. Production notes * One of the animation directors (Kimson Albert) gets to have a nickname inserted into his credits. For "The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I)" the credit reads Kimson "Le Tueur" Albert. * Similar to "Showdown at Cremation Creek (Part I)", there is no post-credits scene in this episode. References Category:The Venture Bros. episodes Category:2008 television episodes